Coalscam: Special court directs CBI to confirm death of accused

New Delhi: A special court on Tuesday directed CBI to verify the death of an accused in a coal scam case involving Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and others.

Representational image. AFP

Special Judge Bharat Parashar passed the directions after he was informed by a counsel that Radha Krishna Saraf, an accused and former Director of Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL), had recently died of a heart attack in New Delhi.

The counsel said Saraf's death certificate was yet to be recieved and will be submitted to the court at the earliest.

According to family sources, his health had been deteriorating and this was his third heart attack.

The court also asked the agency to file a report by 28 September on its further probe in the case, after the CBI sought more time to file the report.

On 2 September, the CBI had filed a report in a sealed cover which included statements of certain persons recorded during the course of further investigation.

The court had earlier allowed CBI's plea that they needed to probe the case further in light of certain disclosures made by a chartered accountant, Suresh Singhal, who had sought the court's nod to turn approver.

The court had also allowed Singhal's plea for pardon and ordered deletion of his name from the list of accused.

CBI has alleged that ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, also accused in the case, had favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) — in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

Opposing CBI's contention, all the accused had said there was no evidence which showed that they were in any conspiracy during the coal block allocation process. They had also denied the allegations levelled against them by CBI in its charge sheet.